1. Fiscal Policy

2. What is fiscal policy?
Use of government spending and revenue collection to influence the economy.

3. Fiscal Policy Expansionary Contractionary
Used to raise the level of output in the economy.
Increase government spending
Buy more goods and services
Create jobs
Lowers unemployment
Cut taxes
More $ for individuals to spend
Buy goods and services
Creates jobs
Contractionary
Used to slow down growth to prevent demand from exceeding supply (if this happens, suppliers have to either raise prices or raise output – can’t always increase output easily)
Decrease government spending
Govt buys less goods and services, triggers slower GDP growth
Decreased demand, lower prices
Lower production = lower GDP, slows growth
Increase Taxes
Less $ for individuals to spend
Firms keep less of their profits, decrease spending on l, l, c.
Decrease in demand
Prices fall
Cut production
Slows GDP

4. Limits to Fiscal Policy
Can be hard to put into place.
Hard to change spending levels
Some spending is fixed by law (entitlement programs – Medicaid, SS, veteran’s benefits.
Small part of budget is discretionary spending (less room to cut)
Hard to predict the future
Economy sometimes hard to read
Don’t know how fast the business cycle will change
Economists disagree over what’s going on and what to do.
Assumptions as to how people will behave are risky.
Delayed Results
Change takes time.
Changes to budget take a year, then have to wait to feel effects of the change.
Political Pressures
Worries over re-election – make decisions to get elected, not always in interests of the economy.
Coordinating Fiscal Policy
Different levels of government need to work together, hard to do.

5. What is the budget and how is it created?
Written document that shows how much government expects to take in during a year and authorizing it to spend for the year.
It’s a plan to pay for the expenses of the government for a year.
New budget prepared each year for a 12 month fiscal year (Oct. 1 – Sept. 30)
Takes about 18 months to prepare

6. Steps to preparing the budget
1 – proposals are made and sent to the Office of Management and Budget (Congress and the President make the proposals.)
2 – OMB holds meetings to review proposals, works with President’s staff to come up with a single budget.
3 – Congress considers, debates, makes changes, and works up a resolution. Appropriations Committee submits a bill to authorize spending.
4 – appropriations sent to President for signature. If he signs it, the budget is done.

7. Budget terms Balanced budget – revenue equals spending
Budget surplus – take in more than spent
Budget deficit – spend more than you take in.

8. What’s the difference between the national debt and the deficit?
Debt – the total amount of money the federal government owes to bondholders. (government borrows each year to cover the deficit) We owe investors who hold government bonds. It’s what we owe for all the years in existence added together!
Deficit – the amount of money the government borrows for one budget, one year – the amount overspent in a year.

9. What is the national debt today?
$12 trillion as of Nov. 18, 2009.
Interest was $3 million/minute.
March 16, 2005 it was $7.7 trillion.
2005 (Fall semester) it was $8 trillion.
2006 it was $8.4 trillion.